A lot of potential medical marijuana patients likely find the process of seeing a doctor and registering with the state to be tedious, but they do not need a special license to purchase recreational marijuana. Perhaps the discounts medical marijuana patients see in their costs makes becoming a patient worth it.

People registered to use medicinal marijuana reached 235,621 by the end of September, up 40 percent from the end of March, according to quarterly figures released Thursday by Health Canada, the nation’s public health agency. About 0.6 percent of the country’s almost 37 million population use pot for pain and other afflictions.

Canadian pot stocks have been on a tear of late. Canopy Growth Corp. has become the world’s biggest pot stock with a market value of C$6.2 billion ($5 billion) as the government gets ready to legalize the drug for recreational use by July. The stocks took a tumble on Thursday after news emerged that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions plans to rescind an Obama-era policy that allowed recreational use to flourish in many states. U.S. attorneys in states where pot is legal will now be able prosecute cases where they see fit.

Perhaps the enthusiasm ahead of adult-use legalization in Canada is having people register as patients to get access before July. Why do you think there is a surge in Canadians registering as medical marijuana patients?